The Plainsman is a 1936 Western movie directed by Cecil B. DeMille that presents a highly fictionalized account of the adventures and relationships between Wild Bill Hickok (Gary Cooper), Calamity Jane (Jean Arthur), Buffalo Bill Cody and General George Custer, with a gun-runner named Lattimer (Charles Bickford) as the main villain. The film is notorious for mixing timelines and even has on opening scene with Abraham Lincoln setting the stage for Hickock's adventures. Anthony Quinn has a cameo as an Indian.
A remake using the same title was released in 1966.
The Plainsman is a Technicolor remake of the 1936 Cecil B. DeMille film of the same name. It stars Don Murray as Wild Bill Hickock, Guy Stockwell as Buffalo Bill Cody and Abby Dalton as Calamity Jane
ld Bill Hickok: I ought to notch your ears for you. A man like you ought to be marked.
The cavalry sequences were shot with members of the Wyoming National Guard. Two guardsmen were badly hurt during filming of a charge scene.
2,000 Indian actors were used as extras for the Custer massacre sequence.
Paramount executives wanted Wild Bill Hickok to survive the card-game shootout, but Cecil B. DeMille resisted and got his way.
Anthony Quinn told Cecil B. DeMille that he spoke fluent Cheyenne. Quinn's description of the Custer battle is gibberish, but DeMille was impressed.
Film debut of Hank Worden.
The script originally had Anthony Quinn's character entering the campsite with no concern because he thought it was the camp of another Indian. Quinn told DeMille that a real Indian would know the difference between a white man's camp and that of another Indian's, and should show caution when entering. When Quinn insisted, DeMille thought about it and agreed that's how the character ought to react.
An excellent horseman from his youth in Montana, Cooper did most of his own riding stunts in this film including the shot where he rode "hanging" between two horses.
